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Dukan – Yummiest Pork – And a Day Trip

Went in to work for an hour before embarking on a lovely day trip… left home at 0730 and didn’t get home until after 11 p.m…. late for me, but worth it!

My amazing driver Jerry showed up promptly (as usual) at 0900 to take me, Dana & Jenni (Steve’s family) and Tracy (Steve’s assistant) for our day trip. First stop the Taoguang Temple near West Lake in Hangzhou. We had a steady rain fall to deal with (all day) but I had on my water-proof hiking boots from Chaco and a rain jacket.

Best hiking boots ever!

Dana & Jenni

The first of many Buddhas we saw.

After spending about an hour exploring the temple and lighting incense and praying for the safe journey earthside for my two babies that I am waiting for, we headed over to Tea Mountain. This is an area on the north side of Hangzhou where the local green tea is grown. I only got one picture because it was raining too hard to get out of the car :(

Tea leaves in the mist.

From there we took a 1.5 hour drive north to the town of WuZhen. It is known as the “Venice of China”. The homes are on the water, they use Chinese gondolas for transportation and it really was quite quaint. The BEST thing about visiting here was I had the YUMMIEST PORK EVER in this little village!! OMG was it to die for. The pork is wrapped in lotus leaves and tied up and then steamed in a soy sauce that is infused with Star Anise, Cardamon and Cloves. I can’t even begin to tell you how yummy this dish was!!! There was a lot of meat and I left most of the fat… I have to admit I ate two pieces, lol, soaked in that amazing sauce… nom, nom, nom!!!

Yummiest Pork Ever!

We also had Chrysanthemum Tea… hot water with little chrysanthemum buds in it… it’s quite tasty.

Chrysanthemum Tea

There were 4 or 5 museums and active manufacturing in WuZhen… the wood carving museum, the bed museum and the rice wine distillery were just 3 of the places we popped into.

Carved into a piece of petrified wood.

Clay vats for wine distilling.

Working with silk...

Soaked to the bones in the Bed museum.

Not sure what the squeezer was... but the sign is over massive bags of rice... I love the signs I find all over the world!

I also love doors!

Cabbage Truck :)

So that was the end of our day trip… I then had the absolute pleasure to go hang out with my 2 year old buddy, Soren. His mommy is 4 days past her due date and was achin’ for some alone time with her hubby, so they went out to dinner and I hung with the love bug. He’s a very cool 2 year old.

First, he had me sit on his little Big Wheel and pushed me around… LOL

Getting pushed around by a munchkin!

We then played with cars and trucks, read 4 books and sang Baby Beluga 3 times… I recorded it and I’m hoping the upload works :) Oooops, nevermind… need a “space upgrade” to do that :( It was cute though!
Here’s another pic of the little man…

What an awesome day! (even with the rain)…… Its amazing you can get to see so much local culture, I bet there are alot of people who work abroad who never go out and sightsee. I love looking at pictures of China, so different from the Western world. I bet WuZhen is alot cheaper than Venice too!!! LOL . That pork looks seriously declicious!
Soren is gorgeous, they are such little characters, my daughter is a similar age and she is going through the “I dont like it” “you cant do that” phase…… You on the truck is hilarious! You fit on a toddlers toy!! Thats something else to add to your “I couldnt have done this 6 months ago” list!
Glad you’re Ok and your losses are coming again (your body likes the 0.4lbs!) xoxo

Thanks, Sonia… Soren is such a cutie patootie… he kept saying, “Too big” and I would say, “that’s right, too big for truck”, and he’d say, “no, NOT too big”.. LOL. And you are right, I totally wouldn’t have fit 6 months ago :) I think my legs look awesome in that pic :D
China is a pretty cool place to visit. You are right, most people don’t go out and explore. I’m an explorer. To put it into perspective… tonight my best friend from Abu Dhabi, Rana, called me. She’s an Emirati and I know people that have lived there for years and never made friends with the locals… I ADORE her and her little man.
There is no sense in living out of your home country if you aren’t going to make friends with the locals and get to know their culture… I know how fortunate I truly am.

Sandi…I LOVE the pictures especially the cabbage truck, clay vats, and door, I love door pictures also! THANKS so much for posting them. I thought I was the sole freak who photographs cabbages :) I love the way the mist enhances the serene quality of the tea leaf shot as well…just gorgeous! What a fabulous adventure you’re having.
*anna

What a beautiful day in the rain. Thanks for all the pictures. It’s almost like being there. The truck loaded with cabbage reminded me of the pick-up truck we followed with the Camel on board in Abu Dhadi. What fun we had.